Fairfax Co., VA Madness

[jbbaldwin]

See this Washington Post story about one benighted county supervisor's quest in The Republic of Northern Virginia:
Ffx Employee Smoking Ban
Pull quote:

His latest idea — forcing county employees who smoke to take classes to help them quit — isn’t gaining much support, either. This is, after all, Virginia, a state built on tobacco and the Jeffersonian ideals of limited government.

Also interesting: The supervisor draws no distinction between pipes and cigarettes.

 

[cortezattic]

The disturbing trend here is that the anti-smoking movement is evolving into an anti-smoker movement.

I'm afraid that America is doomed. I feel sorry for my grandchildren because they will either adopt these idiotic

attitudes, or be the victims of them. A lose-lose situation.
If there's anyone reading this who voted for a Democrat, you got what you deserved.

 

[jbbaldwin]

In Virginia, a dairy farmer can't sell milk to his neighbor.
This is just more of the same, and I'm afraid this tell-em'-what-to-do mind-set is taking hold and will be difficult, if not impossible, to stop.

 

[pipeinhand]

Stock up, soon it comes...

 

[quincy]

What's sad is all those people who claim to want to support small farmers... most of whom are now struggling because they used tobacco growing to buffer crop profits. Now that they can't rely on tobacco growth for income, it's really hurt them...

 

[brdavidson]

While the taxes up here in Canada are excessive, there is nothing of this sort going on with our governments in Ontario. I just booked a hotel room for some business travel and could get a smoking room, I can smoke in the park, and in general there is always a smoking section outside with ashtrays. We can't have smoking lounges but they're also not trying to tell me I cant smoke in my own home or apartment. Perhaps your politicians should focus on things like, I don't know, creating jobs so you're economy isn't such a mess.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I believe that America will sooner or later finally get ticked off enough to say... enough is enough. We are the politician's employers, not their slaves!

 

[quincy]

Here, Here, brdavidson! I've never heard we can't smoke in our own homes. However, I did hear of one state considering fining people who smoke in cars that have children in them... Mixed feelings on that. But I think that takes it off topic and into a different realm.

 

[brdavidson]

Actually that is law here in Ontario, but to be honest thats common sense isnt it? Protecting the rights of kids who cant help if their parents are morons. If I want to smoke, I have the right to makethat decision since tobacco isn't illegal, however if I'm stupid enough to not realize the risks of the smoke to my young children then I should get my ass thrown in jail. But in general, other than having to freeze our asses off smoking outside in this crazy winter weather, smoking in Ontario is still relatively easy to do

 

[jbbaldwin]

I did hear of one state considering fining people who smoke in cars that have children in them

It was Virginia, the state that includes Fairfax County, my home for 20 years and the reason for the original post.
Craziness.

Earlier this week, a bill in Virginia that would ban smoking in cars that carry children was killed in the state’s House, but another nanny state anti-smoking attempt, to allow municipalities to ban smoking on public beaches and in other public spaces, continues apace, clearing a senate panel.

Source: Reason.com VA Legislature

 

[piperl12]

@brdavidson, not sure where you are in Ontario but where I live it is a bi-law that states I cannot smoke in a park. I was sitting away from people last summer at our local beach on a lawn chair no where near where the kids where playing reading a book and smoking my pipe when I was approached by an OPP and asked to put my pipe out. And reminding me of the bi-law. We are not as far off this nazi state as you might think we are.

 

[quincy]

I thought it was Virginia but I wasn't certain. Ugh. I lived in VA for about 8 years and love it there. It was amazing. One day I went to bed paying under $4 for smokes and woke up paying over $5... I lived in Faquier. We were practically neighbors jbbaldwin!

 

[aristokles]

I lived in Faquier. We were practically neighbors jbbaldwin!

Gorgeous country. I do miss my home state, even if the looneys are multiplying there.

 

[protestantpiper]

Dixie for all its faults, is still about as good as it gets on most things. You need to move out of NOVA and get over near the Blue Ridge like I did. I'm out in Rixeyville and never looked back...

 

[doctorthoss]

Cortezattic,

Not quote sure why you blame the Dems for this. I live in the reddest of red states (Tenn), and our anti-tobacco laws have been getting stricter and stricter. Heck, I can't legally smoke within fifty feet of a business entrance or light up in any hotel in the state!!! And this under a GOP governor with GOP supermajorities in both houses and close to 100 percent GOP representatives in DC. And I can pretty well guarantee that the companies that want to ban smoking are owned by Republicans.Not to mention that it was a Republican not to long ago in Washington who proposed making possession of tobacco a felony punishable by up to five years in prison because, well, it's a drug and good conservatives oppose drugs.
I'm not trying to harsh on the Repubs here or defend the Dems. Just sayin' that both parties are invasive and neither gives a rat's rear end about personal freedom. They're both about money and power, and the rest of us are just pawns. Insofar as smoking goes, they are both going to let themselves be led by those who pay them, and the simple fact is that much of the anti-smoking drives are being pushed by big business interests who want to cost employee costs (insurers being at the top of that list). And when it comes down to a conflict between our freedoms and their money, which side do you think wins?

 

[ssjones]

Anyone in the area (Maryland is worse) should pack up and move to WV posthaste.

 

[trailspike48]

I'm not trying to harsh on the Repubs here or defend the Dems. Just sayin' that both parties are invasive and neither gives a rat's rear end about personal freedom

Couldn't have said it better, I don't care for either party, and Libertarians do not win elections, so like many I choose what I feel will be the lesser of two evils.

 

[bludgeoningdeath]

The commonwealth is my home. I live in Rockingham County and my gal is in Fredericksburg. She loves the mountains where I'm from. Nothing like having a campfire deep in the mountains in Fall and having a relaxing smoke.

 

[jkenp]

but to be honest thats common sense isnt it?

Not really. We can't smoke in a restaurant to protect the waitresses. How many of the common ones didn't have an employee ashtray at the end of a counter that was clustered about by wait staff.
Second hand smoke is a bit of a canard. More people get sick from poorly ventilated environments devoid of smokers. A cow puts out more pollutant than a dozen smokers.
In my era, almost all smoked and lung cancer is about as great today as then. I'm not saying it isn't a carcinogen but that we are surrounded by them and worse ones. We knew it then. Cigarettes were often referred to as coffin nails. But, so is almost everything in our lives. We ain't gettin out alive.
Look at that stupid health reporter on the 6 o'clock. One week this is bad for you; the next week it is good for you. She reads the flawed science like it came down on two stone tablets.

 

[raevans]

Left Fairfax County seven years ago and never looked back. Run by a bunch of idiots that believe a person is not capable of thinking for themselves. Personally, I would love to see DC made the fifty-first state. They could also lump in Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland. Let them all wallow in the slop that they create together. (Sorry to those common sense folks that live there and have to put up with this kind of BS)